Comparing wellbeing outcomes for reporting versus non-reporting victims of family and sexual violence in Aotearoa New Zealand - Te Puna Haumaru Seminar Series

Most family and sexual violence offences are not reported to police. It is assumed in public policy that increased formal reporting is desirable, enabling access to support services and criminal justice processes, thereby improving outcomes for victims. However, this is a largely untested assumption, and there are many reasons why reporting may be undesirable for victims (e.g., distress caused by the court process).

An important question is therefore raised: do non-reporters experience poorer wellbeing than those who make reports? To answer this question, we analysed New Zealand Crime and Victim Survey responses together with linked longitudinal government data to compare wellbeing-related outcomes (e.g., access to mental health services; health outcomes; income) for reporting and non-reporting victims of family and sexual violence.

The findings bring into question the assumption that reporting family and sexual violence is desirable from the perspective of victim wellbeing. Most victims in the sample chose not to report the offences they experienced, and we observed few differences in wellbeing-related outcomes for the two groups. Taken together, the findings suggest policymakers should re-evaluate how to best connect victims with support services post-offence, including ways to reinforce informal help-seeking and supports.